Medical card application process

How much you can earn and still qualify for a medical card

Financial assessment

An quick assessment of your finances will be carried out during the online application process. This will let you know if you might qualify for a medical card or GP visit card. It is based on basic income and expenses information.

A full assessment is carried out later in the application process. For this, you will need to upload documents showing income and expenses. For example, payslip, proof of social welfare payment, childcare costs etc.

How much you can earn

Your qualifying financial threshold is the amount you can earn a week and still qualify for a card.

How we calculate this

Your qualifying financial threshold is calculated by adding the following 3 amounts:

A basic rate - an amount of money depending on your circumstances.

The amount allocated for each dependant.

The amount for allowable expenses.

The three amounts are added together to give you a qualifying financial threshold. This figure is the maximum amount you can earn as your net weekly income in order to qualify for a medical card.